The Story of Human Language
Course Overview
Course No. 1600
Explore the evolution, diversity, and mysteries of human communication with linguist John McWhorter in this digitally remastered classic.
This 36-lecture journey examines:
- Origins of language 150,000 years ago to today’s 7,000 tongues
- How and why languages change over time
- Major language families and their connections
- Dialects, creoles, and artificial languages
- Threats to linguistic diversity and revival efforts
Video Lectures
01: What Is Language? (28 min)
Distinguish human communication from animal systems and explore language’s origins.
02: When Language Began (30 min)
Debate whether language is an innate ability or part of general cognition.
03: How Language Changes: Sound Change (30 min)
Track phonetic shifts like the Great Vowel Shift in English.
04: Building New Material (30 min)
Discover how languages develop novel words and grammatical structures.
05: Meaning and Order (31 min)
See how “silly” evolved from “blessed” and how syntax transforms.
06: Many Directions (30 min)
Understand how Latin diversified into Romance languages.
07: Modern English (30 min)
Analyze Shakespearean vs. contemporary English meanings.
08: Language Families: Indo-European (30 min)
Trace this family’s roots to 4000 BCE Eurasian steppes.
09: Tracing Indo-European (30 min)
Reconstruct proto-words like “sister-in-law” through comparative linguistics.
10: Diversity of Structures (30 min)
Compare Semitic root systems to Sino-Tibetan contextual grammar.
11: Clues to the Past (30 min)
Map human migrations through Austronesian and other language distributions.
12: Case Against Proto-World (31 min)
Challenge controversial claims of reconstructing the first language.
13: Case For Proto-World (30 min)
Examine evidence for ancient “mega-ancestor” language groups.
14: Dialects: Subspecies (30 min)
Reframe dialects as natural variations, not corruptions.
15: Drawing the Line (30 min)
Explore how politics turns dialects into separate languages.
16: Two Tongues in One Mouth (30 min)
Study diglossia in societies using formal/casual language variants.
17: The Standard as Token (30 min)
See how literacy slows language change, creating diglossia.
18: Spoken vs. Written Style (31 min)
Contrast oral and literary language conventions.
19: Fallacy of Blackboard Grammar (30 min)
Debunk prescriptive notions of “correct” speech.
20: Language Mixture: Words (30 min)
Track lexical borrowing across languages worldwide.
21: Grammar Mixture (29 min)
Analyze Yiddish’s Slavic-influenced German grammar.
22: Language Areas (30 min)
Discover how geographic proximity shapes grammatical convergence.
23: Beyond the Call of Duty (31 min)
Examine “grammatical frills” like gender markers.
24: Language Interrupted (30 min)
Learn how isolation breeds complexity vs. contact-driven streamlining.
25: New Perspective on English (30 min)
Reconstruct English’s journey from Proto-Indo-European roots.
26: Does Culture Drive Change? (30 min)
Evaluate the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis on language and thought.
27: Pidgins (30 min)
Study simplified contact languages for basic communication.
28-29: Creoles I-II (31 min each)
Trace how pidgins evolve into full-fledged creole languages.
30: Signs of the New (30 min)
Compare creole grammars to hypothesized first language structures.
31: The Creole Continuum (30 min)
Map dialectal gradations between creoles and source languages.
32: What Is Black English? (30 min)
Root African American Vernacular English in British/Irish dialects.
33: Language Death: The Problem (31 min)
Confront the crisis of 5,500 languages potentially disappearing by 2100.
34: Language Death: Prognosis (30 min)
Assess challenges in reviving endangered languages.
35: Artificial Languages (30 min)
Survey Esperanto and sign languages as constructed communication systems.
36: Finale: Master Class (32 min)
Deconstruct an English sentence’s etymological tapestry.

